The Shift in Hiring at SnappCar

Victor van Tol, the CEO who is leading SnappCar through a successful turnaround, has learned a crucial lesson in his twenty-year career as an entrepreneur, a lesson that forms the core of his current success. At a time when finding good people is becoming increasingly difficult, he explains how he radically changed his hiring strategy. His insights offer a surprising yet effective perspective for organizations that want to build future-proof teams. His secret? A simple but powerful “80 (character) / 20 (skillset) rule” that forms the basis of his hiring choices.

“Twenty years ago I thought it was about coming up with a brilliant strategy and finding the right product market fit, and we also needed some people to execute it. The real battle is not won with the best strategy but with the best people. The success of any company depends on having the right team in the right place.”

Victor van Tol

Founder, SnappCar

This realization came through trial and error. His earlier approach, focused on hiring cheap junior employees or – a classic pitfall – people who strongly resembled himself, led to disappointments and high costs.

“I really have made a huge battery of mis-hires in my life, it is unbelievable. It has also cost money, not only in recruiting fees but especially in business value. So I truly learned that the hard way.”

Victor van Tol

Founder, SnappCar

Victor mentions three mistakes that plagued him in the past.

• Too junior and too cheap: The idea of building a team at the lowest possible cost led to hiring people who were not yet ready for the role.
  

• The clone trap: The tendency to look for people who resembled himself. “I thought: I need good people, so they must be clones of me,” he says with a smile. In reality, a team thrives on diversity in character and complementary qualities.
  

• CV-blindness: The focus was mainly on what someone had done on paper, not on who the person truly was.

“Where I used to look 80% at the CV and 20% at the fit, I have now reversed that. Eighty percent of the assessment is based on the match with core values, the personal fit within the team, and whether someone brings energy. The skillset now weighs for only 20%.”

Victor van Tol

Founder, SnappCar

For positions in his direct team he goes a step further. There, the so-called Energy Check is a strict requirement. The principle is simple: if the conversation costs energy instead of generating it, the process stops immediately. It does not matter how impressive the CV is.

“If I feel even the slightest signal of ‘this is going to cost me energy,’ then I will not do it. I do not care how good the CV is. I simply will not do it. Period.”

Victor van Tol

Founder, SnappCar

To put this philosophy into practice, a partner who looks beyond the CV is essential.

“Talent Sourcing Partner is a filter at the gate for me. By the time I sit down with a candidate, it is no longer about CVs, but about: why do you want to work at SnappCar?”

Victor van Tol

Founder, SnappCar

This pre-selection allows Victor to fully focus on what he finds most important: the person behind the professional.

Although character and energy are often seen as soft criteria, in practice they are rock-solid. Since April, after a difficult start to the year, SnappCar has seen strong growth again. Costs have dropped significantly and the team functions better. According to Victor, this is the direct result of building a complementary team in which character has been the guiding principle.

“The right people will always go the extra mile. That is how you create real business value. Not only because someone performs their job functionally.”

Victor van Tol

Founder, SnappCar

He expects that this way of looking at talent will only become more important in the future. The rise of AI and the arrival of Generation Z bring new dynamics with them. Traditional hiring based on CVs is, in his view, not only outdated but even a risk. His conclusion is crystal clear: those who focus blindly on diplomas and experience run the risk of assembling a team that looks fine on paper but is not intrinsically motivated to truly make a difference. It is precisely that extra step, stemming from energy, commitment, and a shared mission, that determines the success of an organization.

As Victor puts it:

“In the end, it is about the energy level in the dialogue. That is the factor that makes the difference between a team on paper and a team that actually performs.”